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The S10s with the 4.3 V6 are a very long life truck. They get fabulous fuel mileage too. One of my friends still has one and gets over 30 mpgs hiway. The Ranger is a great truck also as long as it doesn't have the small V6 (2.8 or 3.0) which are prone to issues. The Ranger with the manual transmissions have a Mazda tranny and they are not without issues, get an automatic if possible in a Ranger. Avoid the Dakota like it has AIDS unless you can get yer hands on a 1st Generation early 90's model. The first Gen are near bullet proof but after that they are major crap. The brakes are far too small for the heft of the truck and ball joint failures are common. Dodge is still playing footsy with owners of those units in a class action suit . Pretty bad when a set of ball joints only lasts most owners 35,000 miles. The Dodge V6 is a thirsty pig as well. The pick of the 3 would be the S-10, but finding one is going to be a problem.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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yep, GM is most robust for longevity.
for economy my 2wd VW pickup gets 48 mpg (and I hauled 18 RR ties home last week in it)., AND it doesn't need GAS (or OPEC) to keep it running. Waste engine oil, fryer grease, jet A, bio-diesel ....
After a lot of searching, I cannot afford a Toyota, and Nissan Frontiers are also expensive. Out of the remaining vehicles, which would be most reliable? Ford Ranger, Mazda B Series (same thing), Dodge Dakota, Chevy (S10? Sonoma? - haven't looked at any yet), and any other truck I am missing.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Not to complicated things any further, but If you want to go Japanese, and the Nissan Frontier is too expensive, there is always the Suzuki Equator. Basically the same truck as the frontier, except you can probably pick up a cheaper used one due to the excessive depreciation on Suzuki's.
I actually think it looks better than the frontier.
If you're looking for a 4 cylinder Ranger I would look pre 2000(?) when it still had the 2.5 L 4. The 2.3 seemed a bit weaker to me. I had two 2.5s and was extremely impressed with their longevity, durability, and fuel economy, even with a load.
I now have a 3.0 V6 Ranger. I love the truck, but I'd probably rather have the 4.0. I don't think there's much diffrence in fuel economy but it's a much stronger engine.
I'd second the S10 4.3 V6 recomendation. Great engine. However in a battle of 4 cylinders, Ranger wins everytime (so long as Toyota's not playing ;-))
No Toyota? Easily the most reliable. Nissan's aren't that far behind. Mazda's have been nothing but re-badged Ford Rangers since the mid-nineties. Prior to that, they were kind of like the Nissans and Toyotas of the day.
Domestics have too many transmission problems for my tastes, but the Ranger isn't a horrible vehicle. Not sure I'd own one personally with all the other options out there.
I always thought the Dodge Dakota to be the perfect size truck, while reliability isn't that bad, it's not the most reliable by any measure.
Maybe S-10s have a little love-it-or-hate-it aspect. Not my cup of tea in any way. Way too GM-y for my tastes. Colorado's didn't do enough to change that.
No Toyota? Easily the most reliable. Nissan's aren't that far behind. Mazda's have been nothing but re-badged Ford Rangers since the mid-nineties. Prior to that, they were kind of like the Nissans and Toyotas of the day.
Domestics have too many transmission problems for my tastes, but the Ranger isn't a horrible vehicle. Not sure I'd own one personally with all the other options out there.
I always thought the Dodge Dakota to be the perfect size truck, while reliability isn't that bad, it's not the most reliable by any measure.
Maybe S-10s have a little love-it-or-hate-it aspect. Not my cup of tea in any way. Way too GM-y for my tastes. Colorado's didn't do enough to change that.
I was only excluding Toyota because I was in the market, all the available Tacos and T100s were far too expensive. I'd imagine that is still the case, though they really are great trucks, reliability wise.
never had a trans problem on my rangers. All three are/were manual. Truthfully, I never had a major mechanical problem with any of my Rangers. One got wrecked, one was a new england truck and I sold it while there was still a frame to sell, and the one now drives great.
I was only excluding Toyota because I was in the market, all the available Tacos and T100s were far too expensive. I'd imagine that is still the case, though they really are great trucks, reliability wise.
never had a trans problem on my rangers. All three are/were manual. Truthfully, I never had a major mechanical problem with any of my Rangers. One got wrecked, one was a new england truck and I sold it while there was still a frame to sell, and the one now drives great.
Also with toyotas I believe the tacos and tundras were know to have massive frame rot issues in the late 90s early '00s. Not everyont had issues but since your frontier rotted out I assume you are in harsher enviroments.
As for tranny issues, not sure what the s10 ever had I believe it was 460le which is basically a th700r4 one of GMs most widely used auto trannies for the last 20 years used in the. Corvette, camaro, trucks, pretty much anything rwd and GM.
I think rangers are nicer, but my bro in law had one, it was reliable but he had a rear main leak a couple times. Not the worst issue but a nuisance.
Edit: looks like it was 95-04 toyotas, massive recall and staute of limits is over. I wouldn't touch one if I was in your enviroment.
Last edited by MustangEater82; 06-02-2012 at 09:05 AM..
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